Insertable pad for shoes



Dec. 11, 1928. A. F. BANcRoFT INSERTABLE PAD FOR SHOES Filed Jan. 5, 1928 Patented Dec. 11, 1928.

UNITED vSTATESv lat-Turri* oFFlcE..

l AIBIEIRL` I. 0F WEST NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

1 n vsnnruannn Bannon snons.

Application tiled January 5, A19,28. Serial No. 214562-5.`

This invention relates to that class of foot supports which comprise a piece of somewhat against a flat surface, only bearsthereon in its shank portion at points near the outer side, the width of the bearing surface ofthis portion relatively to the other portions being ver narrow, particularly when no weight is eing sustained thereon. While it has been attempted to ymanufacture shoes so that the bottom thereof in" this portion is correspondingly narrow, so that the upper adjacent thereto at the inner side will lit close to the longitudinal arch of the foot,

as a practical matter, in the manufacture of shoes by commonly employed methods, this cannot be done without increasing the manufacturingexpense to an extent which is in most instances prohibitive. Consequently, the narrowest portion vof the shank part is' usuallyA made substantiallywider than the corresponding portion of the foot which normally bears-on a flat surface, so that the shoe does not lit as closely to the foot as is desirable Abeneath its longitudinal arch, or at points which include the portions ofthe upper and shoe bottom adjacent the middle portion of the inner edge of the shank part. This dilhculty may, to a large extent, be overcome by cutting away the wood of the last-along the inner edge of the` shank, so that the Cinner-edge-portion of the shank part of the shoe would be correspondingly raised, but this would necessitate the use of right and left heels,l or heels which are higher at `the 40. inner side than at the outer side, and involve other difficulties whichv would increase themanufacturing expense to anextent ,which would he prohibitive in a medium grade shoe.v

The outer edge portion of the shank part may,

however, be made to fit closely to this portion' of the foot without difficulty.

In the manufacture of certain shoes, special means are provided for supporting the trans'- verse, or metatarsal arch of the foot, such means usually consistin of ar pad, or the like, 'which is either inserted etween the inner and outer soles, or isin some way made a permanent part of the shoe. An objection of this type of shoe is that some persons either do 5 not require this additional support, or find it objectionable, and, when the support cannot be removed .or readjusted, av possible sale is .lost as a result.` However, in most instances, shoes provided with these additional supports are found to be desirable', so far as comfort and lit is concerned, but the lstyles in which they are made by any one manufacturer vare, necessarily limited, so that the purchaser often has diiliculty in finding these features in the style of shoe desired. That is, shoes of the style desired may Ausually 'be found without dilliculty, which' do not also have the supporting features vabove referred to. Moreover, shoes having these special features are usually sold at a substantial increase in price over similar shoes whichdo not have them..

The objectsof my invention are to provide v a form of filler piece, or pad,1 which, when correctly positioned in theshoe, will so fillthe space at the inner side of the shank part, Or beneath the longitudinal arch of the foot, that the shoe will fit snugly to this portion of the foot, whether the weight of the wearer is, or is not being supported by the shoe bottom, and which will at thesame time aiford a suitable and effective support for the transverse arch of t-he foot.

A further object is toprovide means of this character which is adapted to be inserted in a shoe after all manufacturing operations have been finished, except the insertion of a sock lining, or which may be placed in posi# tion in any shoe'on partial displacement of the sock lining, and which, after it has been placed in position, may be removed, or readjusted without diiculty. Also to provide a filler piece or pad which is so constructed that it may be satisfactorily positioned without diiliculty on the bottoms of shoes of common construction,sothat the purchaser, hav- 'Ying found'the style of shoe desired, may have it provided with the supporting features above referred to at a small increase in expense. l l

lI accomplish these objects by means of the -construction hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which: l f t `Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the interior 105 of a shoe provided with a pad or filler piece l embodying'my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section at approxi-- mately line 2-2 of Fig. l.v

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are transverse sections 110 thereof at lines 3-3, 4-4, and 5--5, respectively of Fig. 1.

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are bottom, top and edge views respectively of the filler piece.

Figs. 9 and 10 are cross sectional Views at lines 9 9 and 10-10 of Fig. 7.

According to my invention I provide a filler piece, or pad a, preferably of soft, readily flexible molded rubber, which is adapted to lbe placed within a shoe as X, in a predetermined position on its shank portion, the length of the pad `being sufficient to extend from points adjacent the rear end of the shank part of the shoe to points slightly beyond the front end of the shanlr part, or

for a short distance on the forepart. The thickness of the pad is varied as hereinafter more particularly described, all thickened portions being reduced to a thin edge, so that, when the pa-d is in position in the shoe and is covered by the ordinary sock lining, its interior will be practically smooth, or will have no objectionable unevenness.

The form of pad shown is designed for insertion in a right shoe, the form for a left shoe being opposite to that shown, as will be obvious, and its outline, starting from a nearly square corner b, at the inner edge of its rear end, comprises a curved rear edge c which extends towards the front end as it extends laterally, an approximately straight longitudinal outer edge d, an approximately semi-circularly curved front end edge e, a nearly straight inner longitudinal edge f, which is inclined inward at its rear end and is continued longitudinally a relatively short distance, providing an edge section g which exten-ds to the corner b. The edge g is designed to coincide with a portion of the inner edge of the shoe shank, or innersole on which the pad is to be placed, and the vfront end of the inner edge is designed to coincide with the inner edge of the inner sole at the ball, when the pad is correctly positioned in the shoe. A locating notch h, is preferably formed in the inner edge ,of the pad near its front end, so that, when the ad is to be placed in the shoe, as a part of a actory operation, previous to the insertion of the sock lining, the pad may be correctly positioned onthe inner sole by placing it in such a osition that the notch h will register with similar notch as 1', formed in the inner edge of the inner sole. Indicatin means of this character Vdetermines the ongitudinal as Well as the lateral position in which' the pad is to be located, but the pad may be correctly positicned without serious difficulty if such means is not em loyed.

en held in this osition, the inner edge portion of the pad Wi l extend for a substantial distance up onto the inner side of the shoe upper, this portion being located beneath the lonfritudinal arch of the foot, and the front end portion of the pad also will be disposed adjacent the middle of the ball portion of the shoe, in position to support the metatarsal arch.

As indicated in the drawing, the bottom side of the pad is flat, and has a face z' at its front end, disposed at an obtuse angle to the rest of the surface, so that the face 'i meets the bottom surface in the rear thereof in a definite vertex line, fas shown in Figs. 6 and 8.l The top side of the pad is rounded transversely or is transversely convex from its front end nearly to its rear end, the extent of the convexity being gradually decreased from the front end rearwardly, being gradually flattened until its rear end portion becomes practically flat. The middle or highest point in the convex surface is at the middle of the pad at its front end, as indicated in Fig. 3, and what may be considered as `the apex, or top of the convexity, gradually extends obliquely towards the inner edge, as indicated in Figs. 7 and 10, so that -the thickest portion of the pad, at the middle part lengthwise, is adjacent the inner edge, as indicated in Fig. 9. That is, the surface is beveled muc-h more sharply to the inner edge than to the outer edge, from the points of greatest. thickness.

In practically all womens shoes which carry a high heel, the shoe bottom is constructed so that the inner surface of the shank the pad and the front or beveled front. endsurface z' is' made 'to correspond approximately in angular relation to the average `angularity of the shoe bottom above referred to. When the pad is placed in the shoe it Will be so positioned on the shank portion thereof that the transverse vertex line formed where the bottom surface meets the Ifront end surface i coincides as closely as possible with the vertex line between the shank and fore parts of the shoe. The end surface i will thus bear on the fore part surface, and the rest of the under surface of the pad will bear on the shank surface and the adjacent portion of the upper at the inner side ofithe shoe, the pad being bent to conform to the shoe bottom, so that the under side will be convex transversely, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, when in portion of the pad will provide a raised surface, which will fit into the portion of the foot beneath the transverse, orl metatarsal arch,

and provide a support therefor, While the incidentally, provide some support for the longitudinal arch of the foot.

As the outer edge portion of the shank part of the shoe may be, and usually is made to conform to the foot', the pad is not designed or intendedl to extend transversely to the. outer edge of the shank part of the innersole, but preferably terminates at a substantial distance therefrom, approximately as indicated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The pad is gradually tapered in thickness to a thin edge,'both longitudinally rearward, andvlaterally tothe side edges, so that a practically smooth bottoni will be provided for the interior of the shoe after the sock lining has been cemented in position thereover. While the pad, Will to some extent, act as a support for the longitudinal arch, it is not designed to have a corrective action on fallen arches, as it is of soft yieldable material, a primary purpose l being so to form the interior 'of the shoe that it will fit closely to the portions of the foot, at which shoes, made by ordinaryl factory methods usually do not lit, and, at the saine v time, the pad provides an effective support for the {metatarsal arch of the foot.

The above described form of pad ma be correctlyl positioned in .a shoe not provided with special arch supporting features as a part of the manufacturing operation, or may be later placed in position beneath Vthe sock lining, the pad being pushed into the shoe untilv its front bottom surface engages the surface of' the fore-part as it extends from the shank part in angular relation thereto, in

whichposition the transverse vertex line of the pad Will approximately coincide with the vertex of the angular space between the shank and forepart of the shoe.

Where the pad is made for insertion in the shoes of a particular factory, the rear inner edge portion ofthe pad will also coincide eX- lactly @with the inner edge of the inner sole when the pad is in the correct lateral position,

an d this edge portion will also approximately coincide with the inner sole edge in practically any normal shoe, the pad in practice being made in sizes for insertion in a range of sizes and widths of shoes, and,- when thus emloyed, may be correctly' positioned without iiculty. y

I claim z` 1. An insertable filler pad for a shoe having the adjacent portions ofthe shank and forepart thereofl disposed in definite angular relation, said pad being of soft, flexible material and constructed to extend from the rear end portion of the shank part onto the rear end portion of the forepart of the shoe bottom and to extend laterally onto -the portion of the upper adjacent the inner edge'of the shank part, the shank engagingportion of the bottom surface of the pad being disposed obliquely to the bottom'surface of the fore part engaging portion and meeting in a detinite vortex line arranged to coincide with the vertex line of the angular space between the shank' and fore part portions of the shoe when in position therein, and the top surface of the pad being transversely rounded and tapering to a thin edgefat all points, for the purposes set forthn 2. An insertable filler pad for a shoe having the adjacent portions of the shank. and forepart thereof disposed in definite angular relation, said pad being of soft, flexible material and constructed to extend from the rear end portion of the shank partvonto the rear end portion of the fore part of the shoe bottom and to expand laterally from points adjacent and Within the outer edge of the shank part onto a substantial portion of the upperadjacent the inner edge of the shank parte, the bottom surface of the fore part-engaging portion of the pad being disposed at an angle to the bottom surface of its shankengaging portion, forming a transverse vertex line arranged to coincide with the vertex of the angular space between the shank and forepart of the shoe, and the top surface being transversely rounded to a thin edge at each side edge and of gradually reduced thickness from said vertex lineto a thin edge at the rear end, to fill the space between the shoe bottom and the transverse and longitudinal arches of the foot of the wearer.

3. An insertable filler pad for a shoe having the adjacentportions of the shank and forepart thereof disposed in definite angular relation, said pad'being of soft, flexible material and constructed tov extend from the rear end portion of the shank part onto the rear end portion of the fore part of the shoe bottom and to extend laterally onto the portion of the upper adjacent the inner edge'of the shank part, the main portion of the bottom surface of the pad being initially flat and the .bottom surface of the fore part engaging rtion being obliquely disposed thereto, to l orm an angular portion adapted to tit the angular spacebetween the shank and forepart ALBERT F. BANCROFT. 

